Wednesday — February 11, 2004

What makes a resort town resonate?

Consultant Frick outlines keys to success

Part 2 in a series of 2

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"Downtowns are more than shopping centers. What you do when you go to a downtown is you want to see other people, you want to see what they’re doing."

— FORD FRICK, Resort consultant

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

As ski resorts nationwide jockey for position in the winter-recreation marketplace, numerous mountain communities are actively looking for means to attract new visitors and provide fresh experiences for returning guests.

From the Rockies to the Cascades, mountain resorts are eyeing new state-of-the-art ski lifts, lavish lodges and trendy tourist attractions such as ice rinks and cultural centers.

Ford Frick, managing director of Denver-based resort consultant BBC Research and Consulting, addresses the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau’s annual "Economic Outlook Breakfast" on Feb. 4. Express photo by David N. Seelig

One critical component to their success, a specialist in resort development economics said last week, is a vital commercial core that provides hints of the urban environments from which many guests hail.

Ford Frick, managing director of Denver-based resort consultant BBC Research and Consulting, told a gathering of Ketchum-area elected officials and business operators Feb. 4 that resort communities across the West are pursuing plans to revitalize their downtown areas.

In presenting a set of redevelopment recommendations he has issued to the city of Aspen, Colo., Frick said the advice he provided to the renowned ski town might also be pertinent for communities such as Ketchum and Sun Valley.

"Downtowns are more than shopping centers," Frick said. "What you do when you go to a downtown is you want to see other people, you want to see what they’re doing."

Frick’s comments came during the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau’s annual "Economic Outlook Breakfast," held at the Sun Valley Lodge.

Frick emphasized that resort downtowns are quickly evolving places that benefit more from a lively social scene than a well-known "anchor tenant" in the business sector.

First and foremost, he said, resort towns should "welcome" guests, rather than being "duplicitous" by inviting their business but eagerly anticipating their departure.

"If you want to be active and vital, then you have to go out and invite someone to the party," Frick said.

The entrances to town should openly offer essential services and should exhibit signs that provide direction to key locations, he noted.

To offer guests—and residents—a memorable experience in the downtown core that fosters local business, Frick said, resort cities should:

• Allow businesses to infringe on common areas, such as sidewalks and pedestrian malls, to create a "messy vitality" in the business core.
  
   
• Avoid over-regulating how businesses operate and display signs.
  
   
• Encourage density with a mix of components that include commercial, residential, and civic uses.
  
   
• Commit to catering to destination guests, who are key to establishing a vital downtown.
  
   
• Maintain lower-cost business districts where new businesses can start and grow.
  
   
• Allow new, modern elements to mix with old, historical elements, but don’t allow preservation efforts to wholly prohibit progress.
  
   
• Design public areas that are lively, with features and attractions that encourage people to congregate.

To enhance downtown areas, Frick added, resort communities should consider developing features that draw from three of the natural world’s basic components: fire, ice and water.

Public spaces that offer features such as a "community hearth," skating rinks or running water invite downtown visitors to linger and socialize, Frick said.

Seasonal open markets that provide a venue for "fledgling businesses" can add to the vitality, he noted.

Sun Valley, Frick said, could benefit from projects that seek to further distribute the easily recognized brand of the resort. Such an undertaking might include affiliating a commercial venture with an environmental-education project specific to the region, he said.

Despite Ketchum’s indisputable position as the commercial center of tourist activity in the Wood River Valley, Frick suggested that Hailey—like other cities adjacent to mountain resorts—could go through a more prominent evolution in the immediate future.

"It’s the next town down that’s sort of interesting at the moment," he said.

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.